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With worry for Lily’s safety uppermost in his mind and her safety his top priority, he wasn’t going to mince words with Levi. “I’ll say this once. Neither I nor my brothers are our father, so don’t judge us by his lifestyle. I care deeply for Lily. You can trust me with her welfare, as I don’t plan to leave her side until this threat is stopped.”
“I’ll keep you company with that,” Levi insisted.
Smiling, he drawled, “Do you honestly believe your sister will go for that? She’s going to balk at having me shadow her.”
The tension went out of Levi’s rigid shoulders, the stern tightness to his mouth releasing in a rueful grin. “No. If she digs her heels in, she can turn stubborn.”
“Our girl possesses many admirable traits. Allowing me, or anyone else to keep such close tabs on her isn’t one of them.”
Cocking his head, Levi glanced at him with a measure of respect, easing Reed’s own tension in regards to getting along with Lily’s brother. “I might grow to like you, Kincaid. Let’s deal with my sister together.”
He’d expected to find Lily nervous or upset about learning she had a stalker, but instead, she was wiping down the kitchen with angry, jerky arm swipes across the countertops, frustration pouring off her in waves.
“Time to talk,” Levi said when she ignored them.
“Nothing to discuss right now, is there?” She faced them with a piqued look. “Someone doesn’t like me. We have no idea who, and no way to learn who until we catch them. You and Vickie can go home now.”
Her brother could deal with her first, he decided. She wasn’t in the mood to be flexible.
“Not unless you agree to certain safety precautions,” Levi insisted, his hands on his hips.
Reed leaned against a counter and watched her toss the washcloth in the sink, cast him a quick look then face her brother with a frown. “I’m not stupid. I won’t go anywhere alone. Trina’s with me at work. If I’m there alone during lunch, I always lock the door.” She spread her arms. “What else can I do?”
“I can work from here and offered to stay, but she refused.” Vickie looked worried and disappointed.
“No need, I’ll be staying here and following her to work.” Reed went to Lily and drew her against him. “This won’t last long before we find out who’s behind these attacks, I promise.”
“You sound sure of yourself. I like that.”
Lily pulled away enough to send Levi an amused glance. “You like something about the guy I’m seeing? There’s hope for you yet, Levi.”
“He gets brownie points for replanting your garden for you.” He glared at Reed. “We’ll go, but I want daily reports.”
“Not a problem.” Reed ignored Lily’s annoyed huff.
“It was a long drive for a short stay, but now I’m glad we made it,” Vickie told Lily as they walked out to the car, the absence of Lily’s damaged vehicle a noticeable reminder of why they had made the impromptu visit. “I shouldn’t have promised not to tell Levi about the mugging.”
“I shouldn’t have put you in that position.” Lily hugged her and then Levi, and Reed could tell how close the siblings were. “Talk to you soon. I’ll drive down to Cheyenne my next weekend free of bookings.”
“You do that.” Levi turned to Reed with his hand out. “Take care of her or you’ll answer to me.”
“You got it.”
Lily nudged him and glared at her brother. “Knock it off.”
Reed waited until Lily got busy in the kitchen again before bringing up his opinion on who might have it in for her. She stood at the sink rinsing out the coffeepot and he carried over the last two cups.
“I’m sorry to bring up a bad subject, but we should consider your stalker might be one of John’s disgruntled exes.”
Lily paused, that possibility having never occurred to her. Between the shock of waking up to her damaged property then dealing with Levi’s unexpected visit and anger, she couldn’t think straight, let alone come up with a possible culprit. As far as she was aware, none of John’s affairs had lasted beyond a few hookups.It’s a meaningless, harmless release. I don’t promise anything beyond that, and make sure she’s of the same mind. It has no impact on my feelings for you.Those lines were his favorite comeback when she stopped believing his stories and lies.
“Whoever they were, the affair meant as little to them as they did to John. He said so himself those last few months before I gave up and left.” She tensed again, remembering the months of arguing and wasted efforts, another unwelcome distraction.
Reed brushed his fingers down her arm, the light touch both soothing and a warning she wouldn’t like what he said next. “And he always told you the truth?”
Lily closed her eyes against the stab of pain she hadn’t experienced since seeing Pam again resurrected that hurtful last fight with John. She shifted away from Reed, the hurt from that reminder slowly changing to annoyance. “You know he didn’t,” she returned, miffed he would say that.
Grabbing the damp cloth, she swiped over the counter and around the sink, rubbing harder the longer she considered the idea one of John’s bimbo’s might harbor a grudge against her, for whatever perverted reason. If not one of them, then some other deranged individual whom she happened to catch the eye of. Lucky her, she thought sarcastically.
